WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 -- The Alliance to Save Energy today urged President-Elect Barack Obama to fulfill his campaign promise to make building a sustainable energy future for America a key priority upon taking office in January. President-elect Obama's “New Energy for America” plan correctly cites energy efficiency as the “cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source” and calls for new energy efficiency policies and substantial federal investment in energy efficiency to help reduce U.S. oil dependence, create new jobs, and curb climate change, the Alliance said.

“The Obama-Biden â€˜New Energy for America' plan contains many exciting, creative, and urgently needed energy-efficiency actions,” noted Alliance President Kateri Callahan. She continued, “The Alliance stands ready to help our new president and his team deliver a new energy future for America that is built on a bedrock of energy efficiency.”

President-Elect Obama supports an economy-wide cap-and-trade program, which will spur energy savings as a central path to addressing global warming. He sees the opportunity to create green jobs, including through energy efficiency, as a way to improve the nation's energy security, while bolstering both the economy and the environment. And he recognizes the instrumental role to be played by strong energy efficiency policies, including appliance and fuel economy standards, building energy codes, and utility energy-efficiency programs.

“The Alliance to Save Energy urges President-Elect Obama to make good on his campaign promises to focus on energy efficiency as a key solution to our nation's – and indeed the world's – energy, economic, and environmental challenges,” said Callahan. “And we look forward to sharing our own energy policy, climate, and stimulus proposals with the new administration to help achieve those goals.”

The Alliance also will ask the new administration and the Congress to use energy efficiency as a cornerstone of any economic stimulus package that may emerge next year. A targeted program to deploy energy efficiency will create clean-energy jobs, protect the environment, and enhance U.S. energy security. The Alliance's economic stimulus proposal includes increased funding for programs to reduce energy bills in low-income homes, funding to make required energy efficiency upgrades in schools and other public buildings, funding for a major consumer energy efficiency information campaign, and dedicating transportation infrastructure funding to public transit and “complete” streets that serve bikes, pedestrians, and buses, as well as cars.

In calling on the new administration to make energy efficiency a cornerstone of U.S. energy policy, the Alliance praised these features of the Obama-Biden energy platform:

Implement an economy-wide carbon cap-and-trade program, using a portion of the receipts for energy efficiency;

Promote improvements in vehicle efficiency through fuel economy standards and support for plug-in hybrid vehicles;

Reduce federal energy consumption;

Reform utility profit incentives to ensure a level playing field for energy efficiency;

Invest in a “smart” electricity grid;

Weatherize more than one million homes annually; and

Build more livable, sustainable communities that rely less on driving and more on public transit.

The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, the economy, and national security.